Work has begun on an affordable housing apartment building on the North Shore that will include apartments and training services dedicated to serving those with autism and developmental disabilities.
This rendering from Lettire Construction shows affordable housing development that will be at 252 Victory Blvd. in Tompkinsville.Photo from Lettire Construction
Cranes and other machinery have been seen recently working at the hillside spot at 252 Victory Blvd., near Cebra Avenue, in Tompkinsville.
A portion of the sidewalk on Victory has been closed to pedestrians as work has gotten underway.
Developer Thomas Cordasco said that the building will be five stories tall with 74 residential apartments, all of them affordable units.
Birch Family Services of Manhattan, which serves people with autism and developmental disabilities, will have use of a bloc of apartments.
Josh Scher, chief financial and operating officer of Birch, said that the organization will have 18 units in the building for independent living for people on the autism spectrum or who have a minor developmental disability.
“They’re on the spectrum and they can live independently,” said Scher. “They just need some support.”
Scher, a native Staten Islander who grew up near the Victory Boulevard site and now lives in Manhattan, said there will also be an area in the building for Community Habilitation training services through the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities.
Birch, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, operates schools and residential facilities across the five boroughs.
“What we’ve started to do in the last few years is we started to engage in the affordable housing arena,” Scher said, adding that 252 Victory will be the organization’s third affordable housing project.
Affordable housing development now under construction at 252 Victory Blvd. in Tompkinsville will include a community facility for those with autism and developmental disabilities.Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance
The Advance SILive.com had previously reported that the building at 252 Victory would be five stories tall, with 46 units.
But Cordasco, who first bought the property in 2015, said that making all the units affordable meant that the size of the project could be increased.
All the affordable apartments will be leased via a lottery system that is part of the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing program, Cordasco said.
“It’s great to have been involved with it for 10 years and going through all the different processes, from a zoning change to dealing with New York City to get an affordable project confirmed,” said Cordasco. “And now it’s in the works to being developed, it’s just great to see.”
The 30,000-square-foot property at 252 Victory Blvd. required a zone change from a more restrictive residential zone of R3-2 and R3X permitting mainly single-family homes, to R6B, which is a zone that allows for more dense apartment housing of greater height, the Advance/SILive.com has reported.
The project is expected to be completed in summer or fall of 2027, Cordasco said.
Lettire Construction is the general contractor on the project.
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